Chapter 1 The Forest of Mockery

Lessen's answer was quite specific. He raised his arm and pointed, "Head in that direction, pass through the Forest of Mockery, wade through the Spectral Marsh, and you'll see the temple."

After giving that hint, he turned and left, quickly disappearing from the players' sight.

The players didn't delay either, setting off immediately in the direction Lessen had pointed. Ji Bu complained as he walked, "So, after all that, the guy with the axe is just a coolie responsible for chopping trees and clearing the way..."

"Suits the faith and alignment you chose," Feng Bujue teased.

"Eat my big [Bleep]!" Faced with Jue-Ge's mockery, Ji Bu felt that this was the most appropriate response.

"Haha..." Feng Bujue laughed, unconcerned. "But... in a way, Chaotic Evil does have some advantages. For example, I can't say those four words you just said."

"Huh? That's true." Tianma Xingkong interjected. Clearly, he immediately tried it, but he also couldn't turn the intention into action.

"Hmm... interesting..." Honghu continued, "I can't say those four words either... it seems only those who chose Idian as their faith can say them."

"So what?" Ji Bu responded. "There's no real benefit to it."

"I don't know if there's any benefit," Uncle Fei Chai joined in, "but based on this, we can confirm... the impact of 'choosing a faith' is far from over."

"That's right," Honghu added. "Based on this, we can speculate... that in the upcoming game process, we may encounter some kind of problem that requires a specific faith to solve."

"Yes," Feng Bujue nodded in agreement, reminding them, "Another thing to note is... different faiths, in addition to solving different problems, may also bring different troubles."

As they spoke, they had already walked out of the forest.

Then, towering mountain walls appeared before them. In the middle of the mountain walls was a canyon-like chasm, the red moon shining into the chasm, reflecting a grotesque tree shadow.

"Ah... just looking at it from afar, I feel a chill down my spine," Ji Bu said weakly, walking at the front with his axe.

"I think it'll be an interesting place," Feng Bujue said. "It should enrich my vocabulary." After seeing the description of the [The Tree Spirit Who Spouts Garbage Must Die], he immediately developed a strong interest in the mocking trees.

"I think you're already quite eloquent," Uncle Fei Chai said sincerely.

"Heh... there's no limit to learning," Feng Bujue replied.

Soon, they arrived at the slightly steep canyon entrance. The group entered single file, stepping into the cold, strange forest.

The soil here was black-gray, like solidified ashes, and the air was filled with a pungent sulfur smell. The bark of the surrounding trees was dark brown, the roots intertwined, the trunks resembled giant pythons, and the branches twisted and extended; in terms of shape, if ordinary trees were "standing," then the trees in this forest were "dancing wildly."

"Did you guys hear that?" After walking for a while, Ji Bu suddenly turned his head, his face pale, and said to his teammates.

"Ah... it seems like there's some sound, right?" Feng Bujue's calm attitude and punchable expression reassured his teammates a lot. "Probably just some scary tricks, nothing substantial, don't pay too much attention to it."

"Is... is that so..." Tianma Xingkong, who was following behind, was also sweating profusely at this moment. Hearing Jue-Ge's words, he calmed down a little.

Originally, not long after they entered this "Forest of Mockery," some subtle sounds had crept into their ears. Those sounds were like whispers, but it was impossible to make out any content.

For Feng Bujue, this was naturally nothing. However, in this kind of dark and eerie environment, constantly hearing vague whispering sounds would inevitably make most people feel a little scared...

"AHAHAHAHAHA!" Suddenly, a burst of insane laughter rang out.

This sudden increase in volume sent everyone's (except Feng Bujue) scare meters soaring on a rollercoaster.

"Who?" Ji Bu asked nervously, his hands gripping the axe handle tightly, his palms already full of sweat.

"Ta-da!" Another startling roar.

"Oh hahaha..."

"Hehehehe..."

Clearly malicious laughter and scare tactics rose and fell one after another. The sounds swirled rapidly through the forest like a vortex, making it difficult to pinpoint the source.

"Don't panic." Although there was sweat trickling down Honghu's forehead, his voice was still relatively calm. "The sounds are probably coming from the surrounding trees." He adjusted his glasses. "Everyone knows this is the 'Forest of Mockery,' you should have been mentally prepared, right?"

"Heh... hehe..." Tianma Xingkong's heroic face with thick eyebrows twitched, and he tried his best to maintain his usual appearance. "Of course! How could a hero be afraid of such a small scene!"

Before Xiao Ma-Ge could finish speaking, another voice suddenly shouted from somewhere, "Bomb!"

"Ah!" Tianma Xingkong was so scared that his scalp went numb. He cried out in alarm, turned around, and struck a Meteor Fist pose. "Who is it! Come out and fight me!"

"Hahaha... scared into anger, are you? What a waste." Accompanied by this insulting language, the Mocking Trees made their appearance, and there was more than one...

At this moment, all the trees near the players underwent strange changes. On the bark of each tree, a raised human face appeared. The tree's texture flowed like liquid, gathering on these guys' "faces," turning into patterns resembling hair and beards.

"Look, a group of humans has arrived."

"I bet we can boil them like celery."

"Yeah, third-rate explorers, first-rate side dishes, hahaha..."

"Hey, pretty boy over there, have you considered gender reassignment surgery?"

"Blind guy in the bathrobe, hurry up and find a stick."

"Little brother who calls himself a hero, don't worry, I won't attack your personality... because you don't have one! Hahaha..."

"Four eyes! Frog! Four eyes! Frog! Four eyes..."

As the saying goes, a reputation is never undeserved. After the Mocking Trees revealed themselves, they began to insult people endlessly, and they even improvised based on the players' various characteristics... no two lines were the same.

"Hey! You! Yes, you." One of the trees shouted at Feng Bujue, "You seem to think you're very powerful, don't you? Ah ~ I can tell from your eyes, you self-righteous kid. Let me tell you what you're really like... you dress like a crazy parrot, looks like you have terrible taste. I bet you're just a hillbilly who loves garlic sausage, and the smell you give off when you talk is like a bunch of beans trying to escape a cow's digestive system."

Feng Bujue listened to the other party's mockery without showing any anger. He nodded seriously, muttering something, as if he was preparing to memorize this passage for future use...